From the suburbs

Mundelein police officers walk outside of a townhouse along the 1600 block of Woodhaven Court in Mundelein, where an 11-year-old girl was found dead Jan., 22, 2014. The victim's 14-year-old half-sister has been charged in her killing.

Mundelein police officers walk outside of a townhouse along the 1600 block of Woodhaven Court in Mundelein, where an 11-year-old girl was found dead Jan., 22, 2014. The victim's 14-year-old half-sister has been charged in her killing. (Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune)

Just as the calendar flips to March and the weatherman promises a day or two of temps above freezing; just when our hardened hearts begin to melt as images of tulips and baseball begin to implant in our brains, we get hit with another Arctic front inviting Old Man Winter back into our lives.

News

The University of Illinois' rescinded job offer to a professor and a controversy over a faculty blog at Chicago State University helped land the two schools on a 2014 "worst of" list for student and faculty free speech rights.

In denying a request last month to stop the Chicago Cubs from putting up a right-field video board and outfield advertising signs, a federal judge cited a lack of evidence from the Wrigley rooftop businesses to back up claims the structures would hurt them financially.

Opinion

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the public to believe he doesn't benefit from the death of Boris Nemtsov, and some of the slain politician's anti-Kremlin allies seem inclined to agree. Putin has used this propaganda line before, however, and there's no reason to believe it now. Nemtsov's...

"House of Cards" character Claire Underwood's struggle to define herself in the shadow of her machinating husband is yet another manifestation of our cultural obsession with Hillary Clinton and the Clinton marriage.

The 15 highest-priced local home sales only includes properties that were listed through Midwest Real Estate Data, the local multiple listing service provider. Other ultra-expensive properties changed hands but were private transactions and never marketed publicly. - Mary Ellen Podmolik,...

Politics

Under the increased scrutiny and pressure of a one-on-one campaign against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia on Monday dropped his monthslong opposition to allowing a Barack Obama presidential library to be built on city parkland.

Rep. Aaron Schock billed taxpayers at least three times for a total of more than $14,000 in private air travel last fall, including for a trip to a Chicago Bears football game, The Associated Press has learned.

Illinois hunters and outdoors enthusiasts see Gov. Bruce Rauner as a potential new ally in Springfield as they eye legislation this session that includes measures to ban the use of drones to track wildlife, allow silencers at gun ranges, expand coyote hunting to crossbows and resurrect a bobcat...

Entertainment

Conan O'Brien entertains hundreds of thousands of people each year. On a recent clandestine trip to Cuba, however, the TBS latenight host had to please just one - and for several harrowing minutes, thought he had failed.

Steven Dietz's play "Yankee Tavern" is a cleverly self-protected piece of writing, a deconstruction of 9/11 conspiracy theories that also airs a good number of them, ranging from the spike in the short-selling of stock in United and American Airlines on Sept. 10, 2001, to the guy who claimed to...

The good news for die-hard Deadheads who got shut out of the Grateful Dead's reunion concerts July 3-5 at Soldier Field when tickets went on sale over the weekend: Tickets are showing up in droves on the secondary market.